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Problem 2136

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Algebra Difficulty 7.3 Prove it IMO-Auswahlklausur · Germany

Show that in the decimal representation of 33\sqrt[3]{3} there is a digit different from 2 between the 1000000th and the 3141592th digit after the decimal point.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

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Official solution

Solution:

If 33\sqrt[3]{3} had only the digit 2 between the 1000000th and the 3141592th digit after the decimal point, then with a=[10100000033]<101000001a=\left[10^{1000000} \sqrt[3]{3}\right]<10^{1000001} we would have ∣33−(a+2/9)10−1000000∣<10−3141592\left|\sqrt[3]{3}-(a+2 / 9) 10^{-1000000}\right|<10^{-3141592}, or equivalently

∣3(9⋅101000000)33−(9a+2)∣<9⋅10−2141592 \left|\sqrt[3]{3\left(9 \cdot 10^{1000000}\right)^{3}}-(9 a+2)\right|<9 \cdot 10^{-2141592}

Now certainly (9a+2)3≠3(9⋅101000000)3(9 a+2)^{3} \neq 3\left(9 \cdot 10^{1000000}\right)^{3}, since the right-hand side contains the prime factor 3 with a multiplicity not divisible by 3. In general, for m,n∈Nm, n \in \mathbb{N} with m≠n3m \neq n^{3} we have:

∣m3−n∣≥∣m−n3∣m23+m3n+n2≥13⋅(max⁡(m3,n))2 |\sqrt[3]{m}-n| \geq \frac{\left|m-n^{3}\right|}{\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{m} n+n^{2}} \geq \frac{1}{3 \cdot(\max (\sqrt[3]{m}, n))^{2}}

From this, however, it follows - in contradiction to (1) -:

∣3(9⋅101000000)33−(9a+2)∣>13(101000001)2>10−2000003 \left|\sqrt[3]{3\left(9 \cdot 10^{1000000}\right)^{3}}-(9 a+2)\right|>\frac{1}{3\left(10^{1000001}\right)^{2}}>10^{-2000003}

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from de; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.